The Millennium Philcon® August 30, 2001 - September 3, 2001 Philadelphia, PA 59th World Science Fiction Convention
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The Millennium Philcon - WSFS Business Meeting

Donald Eastlake 3rd - Presiding Officer dee3@torque.pothole.com
Kevin Standlee - Deputy Presiding Officer & Parliamentarian standlee@lunacity.com
Cheryl Morgan - Business Meeting Secretary cheryl@cheryl-morgan.com
Bridget Boyle - Timekeeper

• Rules of the World Science Fiction Society
• Business passed on to The Millennium Philcon
• Papers for this year's Business Meeting

Want to change the Hugo awards or the way Worldcon committees and sites are selected? If you are a member of the Millennium Philcon, then you are automatically a member of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS) until the end of the Millennium Philcon. If you're an attending member, this gives you the right to attend, speak, and vote at the WSFS Business Meeting that will be held at the Millennium Philcon. The Business Meeting controls the WSFS Constitution which sets the Hugo and Worldcon rules.

Sessions

Four sessions are scheduled, from 10am to noon, Friday through Monday. They are organized according to the following general plan:

The Friday session will be a Preliminary Business Meeting where committee reports will be accepted and debate time limits set for the rest of the sessions. Although the Preliminary Meeting cannot pass or ratify a constitutional amendment, it can kill a new proposed amendment without debate, so if there is any proposal you're interested in discussing, it is important you attend this meeting to make sure it survives.

The Saturday session will be a Main Business Meeting where Constitutional amendments will be debated and voted on. To change the WSFS Constitution requires approval two years in a row and thus changes approved for the first time last year will also come up for ratification.

The Sunday session will be the Site Selection Meeting as well as a Main Business Meeting. At this session the winner for the 2004 Worldcon will be officially announced, bidders for 2005 may make brief presentations, and future selected Worldcons can be questioned.

Any business not completed at a session may carry over to a later day and the possible Monday session is available in the unlikely event it is needed.

If you attend the Business Meeting, it is a good idea to bring your Program/Souvenir Book, which lists the Constitution, Standing Rules of the Business Meeting, and the Business Passed On from the Chicon 2000 WSFS Business Meeting. For a detailed understanding of what is going on, you need to read these.

Podium Staff

Donald Eastlake 3rd will be the Presiding Officer, Kevin Standlee will be the Deputy Presiding Officer and Parliamentarian, and Cheryl Morgan will be the meeting Secretary. They will try to help members through procedural complexities. Bridget Boyle will keep time and make sure that no one talks for too long. All Millennium Philcon attendees are welcome to attend. However, a knowledge of parliamentary procedure is helpful if you plan to be an active Business Meeting participant.

Submitting New Business

All attending and supporting members also have the right to submit new business. Generally, this must be done in writing, with a maker and at least one seconder. It must be submitted so as to get to either the Millennium Philcon Office at the convention or the Presiding Officer by 6pm Thursday. There need to be 200 copies and you need to provide them unless Millennium Philcon has agreed to make copies, so it can be distributed to the members of the Business Meeting.

If you are interested in submitting new business before the convention starts, we suggest you contact Kevin Standlee or Cheryl Morgan at least two weeks before Millennium Philcon begins. They can help you get your proposal into the proper form. Motions submitted in advance will be included on the official agenda and thus don't need 200 copies.

The Mark Protection Committee

Although WSFS has no officers or headquarters, it does have a standing committee, the Mark Protection Committee (MPC), which works to protect the Society's trademarks. There will be an open meeting of the MPC Thursday evening and also one after the last Business Meeting session at a place and time announced at the Business Meeting. The term in office of three elected members of the MPC will expire at Millennium Philcon and the Business Meeting will select their successors.